>> conceivably, but when the president lights upon the south lawn and the marine one later this morning, it's unclear why he is coming back and who will be here with him. as you mentioned, speaker boehner remains in ohio where he is from. he is not coming back to washington. neither is the house of representatives. they simply said it's up to harry reid in the senate. is he preparing a bill? there was a lot of talk of small ball. a bill to allow taxes to go up on everybody or at least couples that make more than $250,000 a year. $200,000 with single filers. harry reid said he is not going to prepare a bill unless mitch mcconnell allows it to come for a vote for a simple majority. they are seeking assurances that he won't try to block it. for his part he said it's up to the president to lead. unclear if anything is going to happen today. it's becoming more and more likely we will hit january 1st without a resolution. >> peter, obviously the president gets back a little bit from now. what are we hearing about their strategy? we have that very effective bully pulpit? >> it's a good questio